Long-term impact of recurring disruptions on liner shipping and supply chains

Liner shipping has been affected by a number of disruptions in recent years. Following the labour dispute at APM Terminals in Gothenburg, the University of Gothenburg and SSPA (now part of RISE) began investigating the impact of such disruptions on shipping companies, ports, and transport buyers. Chalmers University of Technology and VTI have also become involved as transport has been impacted by further disruptions.

Understanding the nature of these disruptions and their impact on stakeholders requires perseverance, and unfortunately, liner shipping is likely to continue to be disrupted in the future. The project's title, ‘The long-term impact of recurring disruptions on liner shipping and supply chains’, indicates a longer-term perspective than previous projects, which have mainly focused on the short-term effects of individual disruptions and the responses to them. Particular interest lies in what has been learned and how to prepare for future disruptions.

The project also examines how disruption risks lead to long-term changes in supply chains. Taking a Swedish perspective, the project also analyses the effects of the Gemini network operated by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, as well as the tendency of shipping companies to return empty containers during periods of disruption in order to transport high-value cargo from Asia, rather than waiting for them to be filled with Swedish exports.